Monthly Archives: November 2009

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Composing an optimistic song that doesn't sound "gay" is no small feat, much less composing one about being trapped in an abusive household as a minor. John Darnielle adroitly spins what could easily be a Korn song into buoyant, populist emo.

"I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me"  who can't relate?

Besides Eli Manning, of course. He's unstoppable.

Side B
(curated by DJ Ben)

6. R. Kelly  "Trapped in the Closet"

are you serious?absolutely

Diddy may have invented the remix, but Robert Sylvester Kelly invented a genre. It's hard not to, at the very least, credit him with trying something new. I mean, Jesus, this is a 22-chapter performance art epic.

All together now: "I've been rapping for about seventeen years, okay? I don't write my stuff anymore, I just kick it from my head, you know what I'm saying? I can do that. No disrespect, but that's how I am."

I downloaded this song off a music blog solely because I liked the name of the band, never expecting the revelatory sonic experience that would ensue.

It was like the musical equivalent of my first viewing of Oldboy.

Alas, Ratatat has not evolved since, milking the same sound to diminishing returns.

Side B
(curated by DJ Ben)

5. Franz Ferdinand  "Take Me Out"

2004 had so much good music (probably the best year of the aughts), but this takes the cake. Back then, I thought it was "Jesus Walks," but now… "Take Me Out" has to be #1.

I think it's close to a perfect pop song in terms of structure. There's that chaotic intro and then the tempo drops into a focused 4/4 105 BPM asskicking that sounds less like a song and more like marching orders set to a tune.

The middle is so good that The Ting Tings copied it for "Shut Up and Let Me Go" (start at 2:09 in "Take Me Out" and compare to 0:10 in "Shut Up and Let Me Go").

1. The cast of Parks and Recreation attend a housewarming in my spacious new work office  the glass-walled core of a panopticon.

2. I learn that Daryl Hannah died of drowning and rush to Bill Simmons' Twitter page to see his thoughts on her death.

3. My father is decapitated. I lay his live, headless body on a double bed in a motel room and watch my mother carve a X-shaped stoma in his chest with a rusty razor blade. It hits me that my father no longer has a head and I become distraught.

4. Tyler Hansbrough vows to play at UNC until Roy Williams wins 1400 games, eligibility be damned. I cover the 1400th victory as a hard-boiled detective.

5. I discover MAD Cat's plot to exterminate humanity with an army of pathogenic mice.

In the 2000s follow-up cartoon series Gadget and the Gadgetinis, more of Dr. Claw's past was revealed (such as his first name being George) and the villain was given an extended family, including an equally evil brother, Dr. Thaw, and career-criminal parents  mother Marilyn and father Gordon Claw. Claw also has a nephew, William "Billy" Thaw, who befriends and has a crush on Penny.

I've been listening to episodes of "This American Life" recently and I've found that it's a conversational dead end. Talking about the show at parties is like talking about reading ancient Greek plays: everyone knows they're supposed to be great, but nobody has read enough of them to really comment. If you listened to an old episode of "This American Life" every day for a full year, you'd still have 50 episodes to go.

"A Life Well Wasted" is similarly great, but there are only four episodes. And it's about video games and swearing.

1. Used in expressions to describe work in which all conceivable (and some inconceivable) sources have been mined.

Mm-kay.

2. The kind of campaigning Hillary Clinton does, sending all who get caught up in that bullshit down that drain, or down in her Sarlacc pit of a snatch..

Mmm…

3. a common nickname for a chinese person.

-_-

4. Before fucking a girl in the vagina, take a shit in the sink, then commence fucking in the vagina. During approach of release, pull out of said vagina. Locate bitch's (hot) face. Bust load on said face. Then punch nose of said face. Repeat previous step until blood begins to flow. Promptly take said bitch and shove head face first into sink of shit. (Based on a popular ice cream dessert-it has all the flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry)

"Hey Ya!," "Crazy in Love" and "Move Your Feet" were all great tracks, but the best was "Seven Nation Army." It has a feeling of inevitability, that you are going to be swallowed up by guitars and drums and noise. It also pumps up the energy in a room really quick.

There is no chorus  just the hums and wails on Jack's guitar. How many songs without a chorus are this fucking amazing?